Cleaning apparatus for filters



(No Model.)

J. O. STROUSE, CLEANING APPARATUS FOR FILTERS.

Patented Dec. 17, 1889.

l /lllll r WITNESSES.

4flM gZMmZ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMEs'o. STROUSE, or LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

CLEANING APPARATUS FOR FILTERS.

sPEcIrIoA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent Ne. 417,371, dated December 17, 1889. Application filed July 19, 1889. Serial No. 318,084. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. STROUSE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleansing Apparatus for, Filters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the. invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning the bougies or filtering-tubes in the filters known as the Pasteur-Chamberland filters, and the object of my invention is to provide a way of cleansing the tubes without the trouble and risk of removing them from.

the case.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical and Fig. 2 a horizontal section of my device.

A represents the'filtering-tubes or bougies; B, the filter-case; O, the cleansing-brushes, and D the perforated plate through which the tubes and brushes pass and to which the brushes are firmly fixed.

e 6 represent apertures in the side of the case, through which the handles E E are inserted tograsp the plate D.

E E are water-tight caps fitting over the apertures e e.

F and G indicate flushing-cocks.

H is a collar-ring, by which the cap I) is held to the case B.

K is the aperture by which unfiltered water is admitted into the case B, and L is the aperture through which the filtered water passes out of the reservoir I.

The Pasteur-Chamberland filters, to which my cleansing apparatus is adapted, are of various shapes and dimensions, having from one percolating-tube up to nineteen. These tubes, which are called bougies, are candleshaped and of porous earthen material, and

are unglazed except a glazed tip at the end corresponding to the wick end of a candle, which tip has an aperture at the point. These bougie-tubes are placed in Water-tight cases, some furnished with reservoirs to receive the filtered water and others allowing the water to pass directly out from the apertures of the tubes. The water under pressure is admitted into the cases containing the tubes, is filtered by percolating through their walls into them, and then passes in its purified state through the aperture in their glazed tip int-o the reservoir or directly out of the filter.

The impurities of the water collect on the outside of the filtering-bougies and must be cleansed frequently, according to the amount of impurities in the water to be filtered, often once or twice a day. If not thus cleansed, the pores of the tubes become so obstructed that the water will not pass through them. As the filters are now constructed this cleansing can only be done by taking the cap off the case and lifting out the bougies one by one,

and removing the impurities by hand. As the bougies are fragile and costly, this is an operation requiring much care, and in the larger filters. having many tubes requires an hours work. By the use of my apparatus this cleansing can be done without removing the bougies from the case and in a very few minutes. The plate D has perforations large enough to let the filtering-bougies pass loosely through them, and smaller perforations through which the cleansing-brushes 0, made of stiff bristles or wood fiber or other suitable material, are passed, and to which they are keyed firmly. These brushes are so located that when the plate D, provided with them, is placed around the bougies and put in position in the case B the bristles of the brushes will surround the whole outer surface of the bougies and be pressed firmly against them. Thebrushes shouldbeshorterthanthebougies. The plat-e D, carrying the brushes along with it, is then moved briskly up and down a-few times, which breaks off the scale of impuri-.

ties that has collected on the surface of the bougies. The filter is then flushed and the force of the water carries oit the impurities removed by the brushes, and also any part of the scale on the bougies not reached by them. In a filter of the style shown in the drawings the plate D maybe actuated by the handles E E, which are inserted through the apertures e c after the water is turned off the filter and the caps E E are removed. After the plate has been moved up and down briskly several times the handles are withdrawn, the caps replaced, the flushing-cock G opened, and the water turned on, when the rities carried off.

In filters with cases of different shapes from that shown in the drawings the scrubbing movement of the brushes can be secured by passing a small stiif rod through the top of the case and attaching it firmly to the middle of the plate D. I do not. confine myself, however, to any particular way of moving the plate D. In case of filters having the reservoir at the top, the flushing-faucet would be placed near the top of the tubes, as at F.

I do not broadly claim the use of brushes for cleaning filter-tubes; but,

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a filter in which the water is purified by passing through the walls of porous earthen tubes, a cleansing apparatus consisting of a JAMES C. STROUSE.

Witnesses:

O. A. YOUNGMAN, ROBT. M. KELLY, Jr. 

